Apparatus for making fastener sliders



April 21, 1931- cs. w. BLAIR 1,801,325

APPARATUS FOR MAKING FASTENER SLIDERS Filed July 18, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1:! j 70 ITulnEr I to distribute the metal n I inforce the slider and afford ample rigidit Patented Apr. 21, 1931 PATENT OFFICE enoaon w. BL IR, or mIsnAwAxA, INDIANA,

WOOLEN MANUFACTURING or INDIANA Application filed m 15,

My invention relates to .automatic or quick operating fasteners and has reference more. to the cam member or slider for particularly operating same, and also to the process and apparatuswhereby the cam member or slider is made. I

In automatic or quick operating fasteners, opposed series of fastener elements are arranged to be interlocked and released by movement of a cam member or slider therealong. This cam member or slider is formed with a pair of. angularly related channels, at the opposite sides respectively of a wedge shaped spreader, which converge into a single channel at the end of the slider, and the outer edges of the walls between which the channels are located are stricted slots at the outer sides of the channels and to afford internal faces for en aging the fastener elements so as to draw t em together into the interlocking relation. The cam members or sliders must be accurately made and capable of withstanding considerable strain, particularly in drawing together the parts which are to be fastened, and it is also important that it should be com act in form and neat appearing. In view 0 the peculiar form and the difficulty in coring the necessary channels or openings, these cam members or sliders have not been cast or molded, but it has been customary to make them up of front and rear plates which are stamped in the required form and assembled with a wedge shape formation or block therebetween, with such reinforcing as ma readily applied for stiffening the p ates against yielding under the strains of operation. Such sliders, however, do not have the rigidity required, if made up in a small compact form, require considerable care to insure uniformity, are unnecessarily expensive to produce and cannot be made in as neat and symmetrical form as desired.

The principal for quick operating fasteners; to construct the slider in a unitary or one piece form; so as to properly reto insure uniformity and accuracy of 1- bent inwardly to form reobjects of my invention are to provide an improved cam member or $116.81"

AssIGNon 'ro mIsnAwAxA RUBBER AND COMPANY, OF MISHAXTAKA,INDIANA A CORPORATION APPARATUS FOR MAKING FASTENEB SLIDERS 1925. Serial No. 44,638.

mensions; to construct the slider in a small, compact and symmetrical form; to shape the sl der by subjecting a casting to forming dies; to provide an improved method and apparatus for making the cam member; and

' in general to provide a simple, inexpensive,

cam member or neat appearing and strong slider for a quick operating fastener.

On the drawings, Fig. 1 is a front view of a machine for shaping my improved cam member. Fig. 2, a sectional viewtaken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 and 4, detail views of the forms and shaping mechanism shown respectively in the position to receive a slider casting and in the forming operation.

Figs. 5 and 6, sectional views taken respectively on the lines 5-5 and 66 of Fig. 4. v

Figs. 7, 8' and 9, top, front and side views respectively of the slider casting as it comes from the mold.

Figs. 10 and 11, side and bottom views respectively of the slider casting ready for the shaping operation; and

Figs. 12 and 13, front and bottom views respectively of the slider after the shaping operation.

Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral 1 indicates the finished slider, consisting of a single piece of material having substantially front and rear plate'portions 2 and 3 respectively with a wedge shaped be connector or spreader 4 therebetween, form ing side channels or grooves 5-5 which merge into a single channel at the apex of the spreader 4. The lateral edges of the plate portions 2 and 3 are .bent inwardly as indicated at 6 so that the open sides of the channels or grooves 5 are-restricted and internal faces provided for engaging the elements of the fastener to draw them into the interlocking position. The wedge shaped member or connector 4 is in the present case formed with substantially concave lateral faces and the lateral edge portions 6 are bent inwardly on curvilinear lines so that the channels are of substantially rounded form to accommodate rounded fastener elements loo undbrstood'that this form is shown merely for the purpose ofillustration and that the jsl1der1.maybe constructed to correspond to K QtHBI' fOImSIOf fastener elements without" departing fromithe principles' of my "inven- 'jIn view of]. the. fact thatth plateportions 23ml fij'fof jthegslider must have the lateral edges turned in,

cannot be cast readilyini thef finalfform on account "of thediflicult; coringr'pperatlon I which wouldbe required."it one piececore at the" ]'uncture of the divergent channels could not be used on "account of the curve v v and the end channel, and if a core composed ofseveral -throug metal whereby plates 2 and 3 where parting marks which would interfere with the -o eration' of the fastener elements the slider. The cast or one piece lends itself to a proper distribution of the adequate. strengthand rigidity is. obtained without impairing thea pearance of the slider, for example, in t e illustrated structure the concave lateral for- -mation of the separator portion 4 afi'ords in creased material ad'acent the front and rear y the latter are stiffened, and furthermore the plates 2 and 3 are gradually increased, in thickness from their I lateral edges to the middle, or are-of truss form in cross section so I and rigidity and at 'thesame time afford a rigidity are extremely important in operatlng members for automatic or quick open ating fasteners inasmuch as.

' operation of the fastener depends, upon proper relative interlocking and releasing movement of the opposed fastener elements .and accuracy in intercngaging same, and if.

there is any spring apart or yieidinw of the opposed channel walls, even to a slight extent, the fastener elements will fail. to close together'and interlock.

In sliders ofthischaracter it'is customary to provide a finger grip which is hin ed on the front of the slider and capable of being readily grasped for manipulating the slider and in my construction I prefer to form the slider with an integral loop 7 on the front face with which the finger grip may be read- 11y connected,

The slider is preferably die cast, or it may be molded,-as for example in plaster of Paris,

- grooves9 and 10 and the end recess 11 entirely 0 en at their outer sides,

and in practree a 8 usually results at the parting a one piecesliderf .agaiiistthe "front and rear pieces were used, it would he impossible to make the casting without internal This machine,

ciprocate to and from the be ,the latter, as to attain strength satisfactory which the slider withjthe forms therein is subjected to stampingdies which turnthe lateral-fed cs6 inwardly aroundthe forms required form.

so thatw en the forms are removed, the

casting is in the he stamping" dies may operate directly ate portions 2 and f3 if desired, but I pre or to apply'the dies edgewise with respect to'the plate porions 2 and 3 1 s in thefollowing described apparatus which is illustrative of' one form of mechanism which may be usedforaccomplishing the shaping of the slider.

which is illustrated in Figs. is made as an attachment fora press which has the usual bed plate 12 and ahead '13 mounted in plate 12. The slider shaping attachment has a base plate 15 which is secured on the bed plate 12'of the punch'press in any convenient manner as b the bolts 16, and has a back plate 17 exten ing upwardl at the rear. This plate 17 serves to yiel ingly support a frame 18 which carries the forms for on account of the yielding mounting of the frame 18,- tocenter itself between (the. u r and lower formin dies when the I neat and compact appearance. Strength and whichthe upper ends of the shafts 20 are secured by set screws 21, said shafts having their lower ends engaged in suitable sockets in the base plate 15. The frame 18 has upper and lower apertured ears 22 and 23 res ecuides 14to rethe slider and permits ,tively at each end slidably engaging the s aft 20 which latter is threaded intermediate of its ends and thereon. A pair of springs 25 are mounted on each shaft,20 and arranged respectively between the upper air of nuts 24 and the upper lug'22 o the ante-18' and between the lower pair of nuts 24 and the lower lug 23 so that the frame 18 is normally held in a definite position bly'the springs 25 but may be shifted vertiea ly' as required in' the operation of the forming'apparat us. Obviously the arrangement of thenuts 24 on the shafts 20 permits adjustment of the springs so that the frame 18 may belocated in the proper position and the holding tension increased or decreased as required.

Slidably mounted on 26 which is held in front of the frame 18 and provided with pairs of nuts 24,

the frame 18 is a bar other as shown and forming with the'bar 26.

substantially a Y-shaped arrangement, and these bars have on their inner ends the forms 31 and 32 respectively which are adapted to engage in the side grooves 9 and 10of the sliderl, and have the: adjacent lateral edges of the slider 1 bent over thereagainst in the 0 ration of shaping the slider. The ends 0 the forms 31 and 32 and the end of the form 28 are suitablysha d to fit'together as indicated inFig. 4 there y substantially filling the grooves 9Qand10 and end recess. 11 of the slider when the bar 26 and racks 29 and 30 are projected inwardly.

The rack-bars 29 and 30 are located in corner seats 33, formed by a raised portion of the frame 18' betweenthe rack bars 29 and 30, and are held in said seats by angular plates 34 on the frame 18 which project thereover. Each rack bar 29 and 30 meshes with a pinion 35 and 36 respectively on the shafts 37 and 38which extend through and are journaled in the frame 18, and each shaft is provided at the rear of the frame 18 with a inion 39 meshing respectively'with series 0 teeth on the opposite sides ofa double rack bar 40. This rack bar is confined for longitudinal movement bya housing 41 on the rearof the frame 18 and is c'onnect'ed through a slot 42 in the frame means of the pins 43 and spacer 44 with the bar. 26 so that the latter operates with the rack bar 40. With this constructiomwhen the rack bar is moved toward the, right (looking at Fig. 1) the bar 26 and form 28 are moved to the right and the rack'bars 29 and .30, through the operation of the pinions 39 and the pinions 35 and to the left so that the forms 36, are moved 31 and 2' are withdrawn from the form 28.

For operating the rack bar 40 a hand lever 45 bass bifurcated end pivoted at 46 on pivot lug extensions of the frame 18 and is connected at a distance from the pivot 46, as

at 49 by an arched link 50 to the end of the rack bar 40.- This hand lever 45 when moved in'the direction of the arrow 51 shown in Fig. 2 operates the rack bar 40 so as to separate the forms .28, 31 and 32, whilemovement thereof in the reverse direction brings the forms together in the ition shown in Fig. 4 in which position t e pivot point 49 is sufliciently beyond the center line of the pivots 52 and 46 so that it serves as a lock to hold the forms against displacementein the operative position.

In theoperation of the de'vicethe forms lower portions of the s 28, 31 and 32 are first separated to the position shown in Fig. 3 whereupon the slider blank such as shown in Figs. 10 and 11 is placed in position as indicated in Fig. 3. While held-in this position the lever 45 is operated to project the forms 28, 31 and 32 inwardly to the position shown in Fig. 4 in which position the forms 31 and 32qoccupy the divergent side grooves 9 and'10 of the slider and the form 28 occupies the end recess 11.

In order to insure proper positioning of the slider on the forms 28, 31 and 32 and to avoid shifting thereof away from. the form 28 at or previous to the operation of the forming dies, I have provided a-stop 53 on the frame 18, between the forms 31 and 32, against which the large end of the'slider a uts. This stop is preferably secured to the frame 18 by cap screws 54 which extend through slots 55 in the stop and permit adjustment of the stop if required.

The forms 28, 31 and 32'are positioned so ation of the reciprocating head 13 of the .punch press, said head having an extension 56 depending therefrom and carrying at its lower end a die 57 having a transversely curved, angularly extendin channel in the lower face, as indicated in Figs. 4,. 5 and 6, whichcooperates with the forms 28 and 31 to turn in the upper edges of the slider blank in the manner shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

A lower head 58 is mounted in guides 59 on the base plate 15, in alignment with the extension 56 of the upper head 13, and has an extension 60 with a die v at the upper end of the same form as the die 57 and adapted to cooperate with the forms 32 and 28 to shape the lower edges of the slider blank as shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

It is desirable thatthe dies 57 and 70 operate simultaneously in opposite direction so as to clamp the slider blank and forms 28, 31 and 32 therebetween and to this end the base plate 15 is formed with a depending hanger 71 carrying a rocker arm 72 which has the outer end connected by a link 7 3 with a lateral extension 74 on the extension 56 of the head 13. The inner end of the rocker arm 72 is provided with a roller 75 operating in a transverse groove 76 in the lower end of the lower head 58 so that when the upper head 13 is driven downwardly the lower head 58 is driven upwardly to clamp the slider blank and the formsthereinbetween the dies. 57 and 70, while at the same time the resilient mounting of the frame 18 permits theslider and the forms to center themselves between the dies and thereby equalize the pressure of the dies againstthe upper and ider blank. The bed plates of punch presses are usually rovided with a large opening, and the slider orming attachment which I have described iii] " is ada ted to be mounted on the bed plate of "an or inary punch press with the portions thereof which depend from the base plate extending through the opening in the bed plate so that a punch press of ordinary coni struction' may be ;readilyequipped with my attachment for shaping the slider blanks. It is merely necessary to mount the attachment on the bed plate 12by'means of the bolts 16 and then'secu're the extension 56 to the head 13, with the laterally projecting arm 74 thereon, true up the machine and make any required adjustments whereupon the attachment is ready for use.

With this machine a cast slider blank may be readily shaped into the form'required-and the sliders produced are uniform and ac'curately shaped inasmuch as the metal isvcon fined between the forms 28, 31 and32 and the upper and lower dies :57; and 60. Any suitable metal maybe employed for making the sliders, some such metal as bron'zebeing preferred, however, as'it is. durable and with- 1 stands wear and moreover, itlattains ahardr.

ness' under the stamping operation: which 'igives the 'slider inc'reased strength. I V

j W'th my present method and apparatus the sliderimay becast in a neat compact form and the metal i distributed so toobtain the proper reinforcing: to insure a more substan-. tial and'rigid construction than it is possible "to obtain in'an assembled slider without 0b jectionably' increasing the size thereof.

Whilelhave shown and describedmy inventlon in a preferred form, am-aware that various changes and'modihcations may be i made without departing from the principles of my'inventi'on and I, therefore, do not pro-- pose to limit the patent granted'hereon other- Wise than necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention f1. In an apparatus for shaping a slider for a quick operating fastener, the'cornbination of op osed dies, and a form having a plurality o separable portions mounted respectively for movement along relatively divergent lines toand form a position between the dies to engage grooves in the slider and cooperate with the dies to shape the slider.

'2. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a pair of relatively reciprocable dies, and a form having a plurality of portions each mounted to move along a path at an to the path ofinovement of the other portions of the form to and from a position betweenthe dies to engage grooves in the edges of a slider blank, saidiorms being adapted to have edge portions of the walls of the grooves bent over'thereagainst by the dies. I

3.In an apparatus of the class described,

the combination of a form having a plurality hof separable portions in substantially a Y- shapedrelation, said portions being movable along separate angularly related paths for in side grooves and an end recess of slider blank, and a pair of dies simultaneously reciprocable to and from the forms for clamping the slider blank and forms therebetween.

5.11m an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a pair of dies, a floating support-having aform mounted thereon for internally holding a slider blank between the dies, and mechanism forsimultaneously act'uating the dies to'clamp the slider blank and form therebetweenso as to turn the edges of the blank inwardly-over the form.

1' 6. In an apparatus of the classdescribed,

the combination of apair of dies, a form comprising a plurality of cooperable portions adapted for radial movement in different directions to engage respectively in an end recess and divergent side channels of'a'slider blank to hold the latter edgewise between the dies, and mechanism for simultaneously actu- V ating the dies to clamp the slider blank edgewise therebetween and turn the edges of the blank inwardly over theform.

7 Inan'apparatus of the class described, the combination of a pair of dies, athreepiece form for supporting a slider blank between the dies, said form comprising a part engaging in the endrecess of the slider blank and a pair of divergent parts which engage together and against the first mentioned part to form a substantially solid Y-shaped form,

and mechanism for simultaneously engaging the edges of the slider blank flangesat opposite sides of the three-piece form to bend said edges inwardly along. the sides of the form, each of saidparts of the form being movable in a separate radial path to and from a position adjacent said mechanism.

8. In an apparatusof theclass described, the combination'of a mainsupport, an auxiliary support resiliently mounted on the main support, a three-part form mounted on the auxiliary support and comprising a part adapted to engage in the end recess of a slider blank and a pair of divergentparts adapted to engage respectively in recesses at opposite sides of the slider blank, mechanism for simultaneously operating the three parts of the form to and from an'assembled position for holding theslider blank thereon, and a pair of dies mounted on the main support and reciprocable to and from the three-part form for turning the edges of the slider blank thereon inwardly against the said form.

branches of the 9. In a forming mechanism for fastener sliders, the combination of a support, a form thereon having three portions attached at their outer ends to the support and having their free inner ends projecting inwardly along radial lines in substantially Y-shape, and means on the support for relatively adjusting one of said portions to and from the other two portions.

10. In a forming mechanism for fastener sliders, the combination of a support, a form thereon having three portions attached at their outer ends to the support and having their free inner ends projecting inwardly along radial lines and butted together endwise in substantially Y-shape, a stop between an'adjoining pair of said portions and means on the support for relatively adjusting the other of said portions to and from the said .portions between which the stop is located.

11. In a forming mechanism for fastener sliders, the combination dially disposed angularly related branches arranged substantially in Y-shape, a pair of dies between which the form is interposed, a support for the form, and means on the support for operating at least two of the form along their respective radial lines to and from the other branch.

12. In a forming mechanism for fastener sliders, the combination of a form having radially disposed angularly related branches arranged substantially in Y-shape, a pair ,of dies, a support for the form mounted to automatically center the form between the dies, and means on the support for moving at least one of the branches of the form to and from the other branches.

13. In a forming mechanism for fastener sliders, the combination of a pair of dies and a substantially Y-shaped form comprising a. leg portion and a pair of divergent branches, said dies and divergent branches of the form being mounted for movement along substantially radial lines lying substantially in the plane of the axis of the leg portion of the form.

14. In a forming mechanism for fastener sliders, the combination of a substantially Y-shaped form having three angularly related sections movable along independent radial lines to and from a slider engaging position, and a pair of dies movable to and from the lateral edges of the Y-shaped form to engage the slider on the form, said sections and dies bein mounted for movement in substantially t e same plane to and from the slider engaging portion.

' 15. In an apparatus for shaping the flanges er a fastener slider, the combination of a substantially Y-shaped form comprising a, plurality of separable sections movable to and from .position to engage between the flanges f the slider, and die means movable and from the form and having of a form having raportions co-operating therewith to simultaneously bend a plurality of slider flanges against lateral edge portions of the Y-shaped form and at the same time correspondingly indent said flanges between their ends.

16. In an apparatus for shaping the flanges of a fastener slider, the combination of a substantially Y- haped form comprising a plurality of separable sections movable to and from a position to engage between the flanges of the slider, and a die movable to and from the form and having portions co-operating therewith to simultaneously bend a pair of corresponding spaced slider flanges inwardly toward one another along the lateral edge of the Y-shaped form and at the same time correspondingly indent said pair of flanges approximately midway between their ends.

17. In an apparatus for shaping the flanges of a fastener slider, the combination of a substantially Y-shaped form comprising a plurality of separable sections movable to and from a position to engage between the flanges of the slider and a die movable in the plane of the Y-shaped form to and from a lateral edge thereof and having an elongated longitudinally bent channel in the operating facethereof co-operating with the lateral edge portion of the Y-shaped form to simultaneously bend a pair of corresponding spaced slider flanges inwardly toward one another against the lateral edge of the form and at the same time to indent said pair of flagges approximately midway between their en s.

18. In a forming mechanism for fastener sliders, the combination of a substantially Y- shaped form comprising a plurality of separable sections movable to and from a slider engaging position, and apair of dies at opposite sides respectively of and movable in the plane of the Y -shaped form, each die having an elongated longitudinally bent channel in the operating face thereof conforming to and adapted to embrace the corresponding edge portion of the form.

GEORGE W. BLAIR. 

